Babes, Hot Cars, and Monsters!

Okay, long time no post. Let's try to get back on course, shall we?

I started this blog so that I would have a place to rant, muse, ponder, and meander about. I just didn’t realize what kind of time it would take to keep it updated and do a good job. I am really persnickity when it comes to getting things "just so", and as a result I have to commit to spending the time to really do it right.

I know, *Waaaaaah!* - we’ve all got lives, dude, get on with it!

Uh, okay – here we go.

My hobby is modeling, primarily cars and bikes, but two years ago I started dabbling in figures. Now some might ask - and actually have, in point of fact - “Aren’t you a bit old to be playing with toys and dollies?” Well, I s’pose it depends on your point of view, but the short answer is, um, "no!"

I’ve been building models since I was a wee lad. I had my first exposure to plastic models about 1964. I was ten years old at the time, and one night my dad – who was an excellent draftsman, illustrator, woodworker, and all-around craftsman – started building a model car. I think it was a Mercedes SSK – all I remember is that it was long and a convertible. I was fascinated. I couldn’t wait until supper was over and my dad would clear the dining table and get out his model.

It took him about two weeks to build that car, and I thought it was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. He took a box of plastic parts, some glue and paint, and two weeks of his time, and crafted a gorgeous scale replica of a classic automobile. I decided then and there that I too wanted to build models, so the next week we stopped in the local five and dime so that I could pick out a model in lieu of my next month’s worth of allowance.

As I looked through the brightly colored boxes, I found just exactly the right kit. It wasn’t a car, though – it was Aurora’s newly-released Frankenstein monster, walking across the graveyard, arms extended – the living dead. I had to have it, but it cost 98 cents, and my allowance was only 50 cents every two weeks. After much wrangling, whining, pleading, and promises to keep my room spotless and my chores done without prompting, my dad capitulated and bought me the kit, two brushes, and three little rectangular bottles of Testors enamel paint.

The end result was pretty pitiful, actually – glue blobs everywhere, fingerprints all over it, and the most god-awful paint job you’ve ever see, but I was hooked. I built all of the Aurora monsters – Dracula, Wolfman, Mummy, King Kong, Godzilla, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Bride of Frankenstein – but as I got older I began to gravitate more towards model cars. That transition paralleled my developing interest in real cars and motor racing. I continued building models until I was about thirteen or fourteen when, like most boys my age, I became distracted by a phenomenon called Raging Hormones.

That’s right, GIRLS! That, however, is the subject of another column.

Anyway, I returned to modeling in the mid nineties when searching for something that my eleven-year-old son and I could do together that didn’t involve television, video games, Ghostbusters, or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. One day at Toys-R-Us I picked up a model of a Ford Taurus (don’t ask – I don’t remember), some glue, and some paints, and Austin and I sat down to build. I didn’t really do anything but coach and guide him, but we had a blast together. (I still have that model, by the way.)

Building that kit with my son reminded me how much fun it is to create something with your own hands. I discovered that the car modeling hobby had really advanced in the previous 25 years. There were two major magazines devoted to the hobby, all sorts of new kits and materials, and a thriving aftermarket of parts, transkits, paints, and space-age materials.

I jumped in, head, hands, and feet, and before long I was buying an airbrush and setting up a small modeling area in Austin’s bedroom. We both got better as we continued to build, so we entered a few contests and won some prizes. Soon I was traveling to major contests across the country, and my son developed into one of the top Junior modelers in the U.S., winning Best Junior at several prestigious shows. Dad did okay too, and our models were photographed and published in the magazines, which tickled us both no end.

Before we knew it, though, Austin discovered real cars and (gasp!) girls, and his interest waned, just as his daddy’s did some three decades earlier. I hope that he one day returns to modeling as I did, and shares his interest and talents with his son or daughter.

Today modeling has become my favorite hobby. I have a big stash of kits, more than I will ever build in this lifetime. I build almost daily and try to spend at least a half hour each night at my bench. For the last five years I have written a regular column and penned feature articles for the aforementioned model car magazines, and I travel to model shows and contests across the country several times a year.

Interestingly, I have come full circle - I am now building monster models again. As I mentioned earlier, I started building figures a couple of summers ago when I discovered anime. After a couple of years learning how to build and paint figures, I attended Wonder Fest in Louisville about a month ago to see how I would fare against the Big Boys. The vendor room at that show was awesome, and I returned home with a suitcase full of girl kits (of course!), as well as some fantasy and horror models.

I hope to get back to posting in this here blog on a regular basis, and I hope to include some build-ups and works-in-progress of my current models. I will post on topics other than models, of course, so don’t give up on me just yet!